Busch out to end Kansas drought

Extending his NASCAR Nationwide Series record to 69 victories on Saturday was nice. Winning for the second week in a row and the sixth time this season was also nice.

What really mattered to Kyle Busch, though, was the chance to get some more competitive laps at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, going into the Sprint Cup race today.

“Some good things happened today that I was able to pick up on,” Busch said after making a late pass on Kevin Harvick and then holding on down the stretch. “Just the way the car drove, and the way we were able to make different lanes work, whether it was on restarts or whether it was during the race, picking off traffic. Just things like that.”

Busch, also the winner last week at Dover, picked up his first Nationwide win of the year on a 1.5-mile track. Today’s race begins the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup’s new elimination format.

“I feel like this is our biggest challenge,” Busch said. “I feel like if we can pass through this challenging round, then it’s going to be a positive for us come the next round.”

However, if there’s anybody who should feel a bit nervous about the three-race stretch that will pare the field to eight, it’s the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. He’s crashed out of the Chase race the last two years at Kansas, and three of the last four races there overall.

“We’ll see how this time goes,” said Busch, who nearly backed his Nationwide car into the wall during practice Friday.

Larson, Harvick near top in final Kansas practice

Kyle Larson was fastest in final practice at Kansas Speedway, though it was Kevin Harvick who confirmed his favorite status for today’s Sprint Cup race.

Harvick, who won from the pole in last year’s Chase race, will start on the pole after shattering his own track record in qualifying on Friday. Harvick had a quick lap of 189.607 in the final practice.

Rosberg claims pole for Japanese Grand Priz

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg claimed the pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Japan, beating teammate Lewis Hamilton and putting himself in good position to regain the Formula One championship lead.

Rosberg claimed his eighth pole of the season with a time of 1 minute, 32.506 seconds, 0.197 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

Hamilton leads Rosberg by three points in the overall title race – 241 to 238. Neither driver has ever won at Suzuka.